Carmen: Act 2 ‘Toreador Song’ - Georges Bizet

Carmen: Act 2 ‘Toreador Song’ by Georges Bizet

French composer Georges Bizet completed his opera Carmen in 1875 at the age of 37. The premiere performance of Carmen took place in March the same year at the Opéra-Comique in Paris.

After returning to civilian life after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, Bizet was eager to have his new operas performed at either of the two state-funded opera houses of Paris – The ‘Paris Opera House’ and the ‘Opéra-Comique’. It would be the ‘Opéra-Comique’ that provided the first opportunity for post war Bizet to perform his own composition with his one act opera ‘Djamileh’ in 1872.

While Djamileh was only moderately successful, the Opéra-Comique made a further commission to Bizet for a full-length opera. After much discussion between Bizet, his librettists Henri Meilhac & Ludovic Halévy, and the manager of the Opéra-Comique, Adolphe de Leuven, It was finally decided that Bizet would adapt the novella ‘Carmen’ by the French novelist Prosper Mérimée.

The aria ‘Toreador Song’ is performed in the first half of act II.